The ACC sued Clemson University on Wednesday, asking for a criminal ruling that the South Carolina-based institution must carry out agreements that grant the ACC advertising, intellectual property, and other privileges.
The ACC was sued by Clemson in a South Carolina courtroom on March 1 for supposedly misrepresenting Clemson’s freedom and its obligation to pay the ACC if it leaves the 15-member event.
The competing claims are the result of each party’s “forum shop,” or choice of court case for the most positive outcome. The ACC, with its headquarters in North Carolina, is involved in a related dispute with Florida State University, which sued the ACC in Florida and the ACC sued FSU in North Carolina.

The prosecution ferocity is a result of a conference’s efforts to keep its account. Two of the ACC’s members are currently eyeing a move out of the program, which the other 13 members are definitely watching closely.
The ACC requests a court’s approval to confirm that Clemson may be required to give an exit fee if it left the meeting and that Clemson is bound by a grant of rights agreement that was signed in 2013 and amended in 2016. The ACC will need to work out rights to reach an ESPN agreement that runs through 2036. Clemson, FSU, and likely other conference schools agree that the meeting has n’t maximized media right in its relations.
The ACC requests assurance that Clemson may give a negotiated drawback fee, which the meeting claims was authorized by Clemson and is intended to “address the potential losses caused by drawback.”
Although FSU has also claimed the total amount left is$ 572 million when including forfeited media rights and unreimbursed broadcast fees, the withdrawal fee has been described in court filings as ranging from$ 130 million to$ 140 million.
The ACC is in some way fighting for its financial future despite today facing problems from its two most important people. Sports is at the heart of modern school sports, and FSU and Clemson are the team’s most prestigious football teams. However, the conference has some of the biggest basketball programs in the sport. There’s even expectation that UNC and Miami, another high- level football schools in the ACC, might be attentively watching these legitimate battles. Losing some of those institutions, while adding Stanford, Cal and SMU, would be a large step up for the event.
In its income registration for fiscal 2022, the ACC reported$ 617 million in revenue. That trails both the Big Ten ($ 846 million ) and the SEC ($ 802 million ), and that gap is only expected to widen as those rival conferences enter new, richer TV deals.